The estimated Chinese gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 8.7 percent last year, thanks to the recovery of the economy from the global recession, the government in Beijing announced on Thursday.
GDP reached a value of 33.540 trillion yuan (4.910 trillion dollars) in 2009, after increasing by 10.7 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, said Ma Jiantang, director of the National Bureau of Statistics, to reporters. "Last year was the hardest for the Chinese economy in the new century," state media quoted him as saying. Ma stated that the Chinese economy "began to recover as a whole" mainly due to the government’s financial policy and a 4 trillion yuan stimulus package focused on infrastructure. The bureau reported that the added value of the Chinese industrial sector increased by 9.5 percent last year, to an estimated 15.700 trillion yuan, while the value of the service sector was estimated at 14.290 trillion yuan, which is 8.9 percent higher than in 2008.
Last month, the government raised the GDP growth estimate for 2008 to 9.6 percent, following a revision of the value of the service sector. The value of Chinese exports fell by 16 percent in 2009, but in December it jumped by 18 percent month-on-month, which is yet another possible sign of economic recovery, the government announced earlier. The total value of trade with the world fell by 14 percent last year to 2.210 trillion dollars, while the Chinese trade surplus, a subject of conflict with other countries, fell by 34 percent to 196.1 billion dollars, the Chinese customs administration reported. Analysts expect that China will surpass Japan this year and take the position of the second-largest economy in the world, behind the United States. The World Bank recently announced that the Chinese economy received support last year from government investments, as well as the growth of new bank loans, and continuous growth in domestic consumption. (H)
